Moog Music Introduces the DFAM Analog Percussion Synthesizer

January 11, 2018, Asheville, NC -- Today Moog Music introduces the Drummer From Another Mother (DFAM), the first addition to the Mother eco-system of semi-modular analog synthesizers. DFAM is an original electronic instrument for the exploration of new concepts in rhythm and resonance.

Drummer From Another Mother (DFAM) is a highly-interactive, Semi-Modular Analog Percussion Synthesizer and a vibrant deviation from the traditional drum machine--presenting an expressive hands-on approach to percussive pattern creation.

DFAM’s fully analog circuitry behaves much like a living organism, reacting in different ways to input from different individuals. Moog Music enlisted three artists to demonstrate the sounds of the new instrument: DJ Haram, Stud1nt, and Umfang--all members of NY’s Discwoman collective. Watch as they explore the new Semi-Modular Analog Percussion Synthesizer from their own personal creative spaces.

DFAM is the first addition to the Mother ecosystem of electronic instruments and each DFAM includes a package of patch cables, inviting interconnectivity via the synthesizer’s 24-point modular patchbay. Create new sounds or bizarre behaviors, synchronize an unlimited number of DFAM and Mother-32 synthesizers together, or fully integrate this analog instrument into a modular Eurorack production environment.

Each DFAM is lovingly designed, assembled, calibrated and tested in Asheville, NC by the employee-owners at Moog Music and has already begun shipping from the Moog Factory to Authorized Moog Music Dealers worldwide.

Starting next week, from Jan 15- Jan 24, Moog will offer free hour-long DFAMworkshops facilitated by Alissa DeRubeis and Felisha Ledesma of S1 Synth Library to the west coast subscribers of the Moog Music Newsletter.

Right now, the DFAM synthesizer is part of an interactive interspecies installation at the Cactus Store in Echo Park. Entitled BioRhythmia, the installation uses electromyography sensors to measure the electric energies of a 30 year old cactus. The plant’s energies are converted into analog control voltages (CV),enabling the cactus (a mutant species originally from Bali, but now extinct in the wild) to “play” the synthesizer. Different conditions, different times of day, even different experiences with human passer-bys can affect what the cactus decides to play.

Moog Music is the leading producer of analog synthesizers in the world. The company and its customers carry on the legacy of its founder, electronic musical instrument pioneer, Dr. Bob Moog. All of Moog’s instruments are hand built in its factory on the edge of downtown Asheville, NC.

During Moogfest 2014, Moog Music facilitated a two-day workshop in which Moog engineers assisted 125 participants in building Werkstatt, an educational, patchable analog synthesizer designed specifically for the event. Now, Moog is releasing a no-soldering-required version.

Today, it is with great excitement that Moog Music Inc. announces their plans to re-commence the limited run manufacturing of three of their most sought after 5U large format modular synthesizers: The System 55, the System 35 and the Model 15. These three modular synthesizer systems were originally created and manufactured by Moog in 1973.

With the addition of four new prizes for synthesizer enthusiasts, the Bob Moog Foundation is extending its Road To Innovation Raffle and expanding it to an international audience. Prizes include Subaru vehicles, Korg MS-20 Mini analog synth, Stylophone synth, IK Multimedia Sample Moog, and Mark Vail's new book "The Synthesizer."

In this video, Moog Music Chief Engineer Cyril Lance gives an overview of the technical effort and advancements made during the design of the Sub 37 analog synthesizer. Lance gives insight into the Sub 37’s new VCO design, mixer architecture, filter topology, as well as the implementation of paraphonic functionality via Duo Mode.